Secrets and Lies

"So," I commented as we merged onto the A2 motorway heading for London, "Now I know why there wasn't any money in the budget to offer me a moving allowance."

Phoebe glanced at me with a frown, "What do you mean?"

I grimaced slightly, "I was there when you checked us out of the hotel, Feebs. We were only there two nights, and we didn't even get room service this time. So how the heck did it cost over nine hundred pounds?! I knew the place was expensive, but four-fifty a night's ridiculous. Honestly, I'm kind of shocked LIES is ok with that sort of extravagant spending."

The busty redhead cringed slightly into her seat before mumbling, "I don't expect either LIES or Miss Talbot to pay for my expensive tastes. I use a personal account for that sort of thing."

"What?" I almost gasped in shock. "Probation or not you must be making a hell of a lot more than they offered me, if you can afford those kind of accommodations."

Her cheeks were already heated again by that point as she replied softly, "I really don't... It's not exactly my money."

That left me with a confused frown, "If it's not your money and it's not Miss Talbot's either, then where's it coming from?"

"It's my father's," she admitted in a guilty tone. "He's got more than he knows what to do with, thanks to all his real estate and other investments. Basically another bloody landlord, he owns a few blocks of flats and a bunch of other properties. I think he's even part-owner of a distillery or two. My parents set up a trust fund for me. That's where the money comes from, to pay for the luxury hotel suites and fancy meals."

Then she pulled out her phone and added, "Speaking of, I'll find us somewhere nice in London. Not the same place Owen's at, but close to it."

I pointed out, "I know it's not exactly luxurious but we could just stay at my place. It's only a short train ride to the city. If we take your SUV all the way into Westminster we'll have to deal with the congestion charges, not to mention the cost of parking."

Phoebe pouted, "I hate trains."

Hearing her act like a spoiled petulant teen left me fighting to hold back a smile for the next couple seconds.

My expression became serious again when I asked, "Since you mentioned family, what does yours think about your line of work? Or your recent transformation?"

She continued to stare at her phone as she mumbled, "They've no idea that I've changed, that I'm Phoebe now. And they don't know anything about what I do. I don't talk with my family very much. Or at all, if I can help it. With luck I'll never have to try and explain my life to them, or how it all changed last month."

I frowned as I looked over at her for a moment before returning my attention to the road. "I take it you don't get on well with them?"

Phoebe shook her head, "I was the 'problematic middle child' who never fit in with the rest of the family. My older brother Duncan's the dutiful one, following our father's footsteps and gearing up to take over the old man's business interests when he finally retires or kicks the bucket. And my sister Katie's the smart one. She studied medicine, last I heard she became some sort of specialist."

That left me wondering if my partner might have started out as a spoiled trust-fund kid, at least prior to her involvement with magic and the brotherhood. Before I could ask though she spoke up again.

"How about you?" she asked. "Get along well with your family? Any brothers or sisters? I'm guessing you went into police work because your father was a cop. What did he think about you using that spell?"

That was actually a difficult topic for me and I really wasn't ready to go into those details. I also didn't want to have to explain why I didn't want to discuss is, so I skipped the siblings stuff and went straight to the work part of her question.

"My uncle's the one who got me into policing," I replied. "Uncle Mike's with the Tactical Firearms Unit in Manchester. He and Aunt Rose were both really proud of me when I got in with the Met. And even more so when I made detective."

"Not so much when I came out to them at the end of September," I sighed. "They were pretty upset when I told them I was actually their niece. They even told me not to use that spell. We uh, haven't spoken since then."

My parter gave me a sad look, "Sorry Trillium. For what it's worth, I think you're doing just fine without their approval. And I can guarantee our friends and coworkers at LIES are a hell of a lot more accepting and supportive than most folks out there."

"I uh, don't wanna out anyone," she added quietly, "But you're not the only trans person on the team."

I replied softly, "Thanks Feebs."

She gave me a supportive smile. Then her expression became more thoughtful as she commented, "I wouldn't have pegged you as a Mancunian, but I can sort of see it now. Not much of an accent though."

"So which is it?" she suddenly demanded. "City or United? Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Even if you don't follow the game yourself, you don't grow up in Manchester without being on one side or the other."

The question seemed so on-point for her I almost laughed. Instead I rolled my eyes and replied, "City. But only because that's who they cheered for when I was growing up."

The redhead nodded once, "Good answer. Not enough to redeem the transmisia, but if your aunt and uncle ever get over their bigotry then at least we know their opinions on football aren't totally daft."

Hearing that I tried to keep the surprise off my expression, since I hadn't actually said anything about growing up with Mike and Rose. Then again it probably wasn't hard to guess, based on all the things I hadn't said. For the next few moments I wasn't sure how to respond, but after a couple more seconds I figured out what to say.

"Thank you," I told her.

Phoebe was looking at her phone again by that point, but she glanced at me and asked "For what?"

I gave her a weak smile, "For not asking the obvious questions."

She started to reply but just then both our phones buzzed with some new notifications. And after glancing at hers she announced, "It's from Terry, he's sent us a bunch of video clips."

"That's Owen alright," she added after viewing one of them. "And he's not alone. Got a real looker there with him. Young, blonde, hot as..."

Her voice trailed off as she frowned. "Owen mate, what the bloody hell are you doing? Checking into a posh London hotel with a lass young enough to be your daughter. Alys can't be very happy seeing this. Or Grace, for that matter."

I kept my eyes on the road as I pointed out, "We know someone used mind control on Martin. So what if Owen's also being controlled? Maybe that person with him is our perp."

Phoebe shrugged, "Could be? She looks awfully young for that sort of thing."

"I look mid-twenties but I'm really in my thirties," I reminded her. "And you're what, forty? I hate to say it, but thanks to Miss Talbot's spell people can be whatever age they want now."

"Aye, that's a good point," she conceded.

Then I asked, "Does this person with Owen look anything like the angel in the videos from Sunday's sighting?"

"No," she stated decisively. "About the only thing she has in common with the angel is blonde hair. Apart from that they're nothing alike."

I frowned, "You said the angelic appearances could be faked with illusions. So that doesn't rule this girl out as our perp."

"Either way," I continued, "The fact that the trail's leading us to Westminster feels like a big red flag. You've got both Westminster Abby and Westminster Cathedral there, not to mention the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. All within a few hundred meters of each other."

Phoebe was quiet for the next few seconds, then she started tapping and swiping her phone again for another half minute or so.

She finally responded, "We know where the two of them are staying, and they seem to be keeping to a fairly consistent schedule. No idea what Owen and the lass get up to during the day, but it looks like they set out for dinner every evening around eight. And they're back at the hotel by ten."

"Assuming they stick to the pattern we could try and confront them this evening?" the redhead suggested.

Then she sighed and shook her head, "Except if that girl's our entity then she's likely got Owen wrapped around her little finger. And like I've said, after the London offices fell he was probably the highest-ranked Brotherhood operative in the UK. He'll know all the same nasty spells I do, perhaps even more. That's not even taking into account the entity herself. If she's using mind control on experienced ex-Brotherhood operatives then she's already bloody dangerous even without Owen's help."

"So how do we get him out of her clutches without ending up mind controlled ourselves?" she asked as she looked to me.

It took me a few seconds to think through some scenarios, then I responded with a question of my own. "Back in the New Forest you said you knew some non-lethal spells, like a stun spell? How close do you have to be to someone to cast that? Or rather, how far away can you be from a target and still use those spells effectively?"

She frowned, "Line of sight. We were always told the closer the better, but I know the sleep spell's good to at least a few dozen meters. Stun spell should be similar."

"If you're thinking about some kind of magical sniper shot then think again," she added. "The Brotherhood used mundane snipers when they wanted to take down a target from a safe distance, so far as I know they didn't bother using magic for that."

I shook my head, "That would have been convenient, but not what I had in mind. I'm starting to put a plan together, and a major component will involve you being near enough to incapacitate both Owen and the entity. But to keep you safe we need to make sure you're either hidden, or far enough away that you won't be at risk from either Owen's magic or the entity's mind control."

Phoebe's frown deepened, "What about you?"

"I'll be the decoy," I stated. "I'll go in and try to talk with Owen and the entity. I'll use that truth spell, maybe it'll let me confirm what's going on between them."

My partner shook her head and insisted, "No way, you can't put yourself at risk like that! We can't afford to have you fall into that thing's clutches as well!"

Once again I was tempted to tease her about being so worried for me, but I let it go. Instead I explained my reasoning, "You know offensive spells, not me. So that automatically determines which of us acts as back-up and who goes in to confront them. And we can't just execute a high-risk magical take-down without confirming that this mystery person is indeed our entity. That'd violate LIES rules about not harming innocent people."

"Anyways there's a very good chance her mind control won't work on me," I continued. "Miss Talbot said these enchanted tattoos are even better than the amulets. They're supposed to protect against magical attacks as well as physical ones. So odds are neither Owen or the entity will be able to hurt me."

Finally I said, "If either Owen or the entity do try and attack me that's where you come in. Stun them or knock them out or whatever you have to do. Then dispell any mind control on Owen. Even if that takes him out of action for a day or two, if nothing else it'll release him and she loses access to both his magic and his money."

Phoebe frowned as she thought that through for a few seconds. Then she responded, "Alright Tril. So what's your plan, how do you want to do this?"

I took a deep breath then began, "Here's what I'm thinking..."

• • • • •

"A new transaction just appeared on dad's credit card," Alys announced. She sounded equal parts nervous and excited as she added, "They'll probably be heading back to the hotel soon."

"Understood," I responded in a calm quiet voice.

It was about a quarter to ten in the evening, and I was seated in a comfortable chair in the posh lobby of the hotel where Owen was staying. I'd dressed for the occasion, in low heels, dark slacks, a nice blouse, and a short dark jacket. Hair and make-up were both subtle but attractive. And my phone was tucked into one of the jacket pockets, my ID and everything else was in the other.

A few seconds later Phoebe's voice came through the bluetooth handsfree tucked into my left ear. She wasn't addressing any of us though when she stated tersely, "Not interested, fuck off."

The busty redhead was perched on a stool in the hotel's lounge. It was just off the main lobby, and from there she had a good view of my location. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best we could do on short notice and with limited resources. The main problem was the unwanted attention she kept attracting. Like me she'd dressed up a bit to help fit in, but where I'd aimed for a more subtle look she'd ended up looking outright hot. Even the bright red wireless headset she wore looked kind of stylish.

She'd been sitting there nursing a glass of Scotch since we arrived about a half hour earlier, and in that time she'd had four different guys try and hit on her. Fortunately none of them made a fuss after being rather abruptly shot down.

Another few minutes of silence followed before the conference call came to life once again. This time it was Terry who advised the rest of us, "Got them on the hotel's exterior security camera, approaching the main entrance. Fifteen seconds."

"Please be careful," Dr. Bishop's voice came through next.

Sure enough I spotted Owen and his mysterious new friend just a moment later, walking arm in arm past the large windows as they approached the glass revolving doors. My new manager was dressed in a nice suit and tie, and seemed entirely relaxed like he'd enjoyed a fine dinner with his rather young date.

And she definitely looked young, enough so that I was positive people would be talking. Eighteen at most, the blonde was certainly attractive but she looked like she ought to have been doing homework or studying for exams rather than enjoying a fancy meal with a man old enough to be her dad.

Then again the girl appeared just as comfortable as Owen, if not more-so. She wore a designer little black dress along with dark stockings, heels, and a skimpy jacket that didn't cover much more than her arms. She was tall and slim, with the heels she easily matched Owen's height. And she had some subtle but very aesthetically pleasing curves. Her make-up was on-point, as was her jewelry. Which consisted of a matched set of earrings, necklace, and bracelet, all in gold with diamond settings.

"Here we go," I whispered as I got to my feet to intercept them.

I cast the truth spell just before catching the couple in the middle of the lobby, where I knew Phoebe would have a clear line of sight on all three of us. It also meant Terry would have a good view through the lobby security camera. I had no doubt Alys and Grace would be watching that too, over our tech guy's shoulders if they had to.

Except I nearly faltered as the spell took hold, because apparently 'seeing the truth of things' also meant looking through glamours or illusions. And what I now saw hanging off Owen's arm was very much not the attractive young thing everybody else was looking at.

Rather than an eighteen year old girl it now looked more like a hundred and eighty year dead corpse. Thin greenish-grey skin was pulled tight over gaunt, bony features. Dark stringy tangles had replaced long silky blonde locks, and glassy black orbs took the place of bright blue eyes. Long brown jagged fangs protruded from a slack lipless jaw rather than the perfect pearly white smile I'd seen just a moment earlier. Only the clothes and jewelry remained unchanged, and that somehow made it even worse. Like instead of robbing the cradle, it now looked like Owen found his date by robbing a debutante's grave.

"Trillium?" my boss commented in mild surprise when he realized I was standing in front of him. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you and Phoebe be in Southampton?"

I did my best to hide any fear or revulsion as I replied, "Phoebe can handle things in the New Forest. I'm here because your daughter asked me to check on you. She's worried, you haven't been answering her calls or texts."

"By the way," I added as I fought down a wave of nausea. Then I recited the phrase Phoebe and I agreed on earlier, "Who's your new friend? I don't think we've been introduced."

Owen hesitated at that point, like he wasn't sure what to say. And it seemed like my partner was hesitating as well, because neither our boss or the monstrosity next to him showed any indication of being enspelled.

Then the gaunt corpse-like figure leaned closer to my boss. It brought its horrible maw up next to his ear like it was going to whisper something, but all I heard was a ragged hiss.

Even so, my truth spell was still in effect. And somehow it translated the unintelligible sound into two very clear words.

"Kill her."